Variable Ratio Railcar Door Mechanism
AssigneeTrinity North American Freight Car, Inc.
InventorKenneth W. Huck
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
According to particular embodiments, a door operating system comprises: a rotating handle removably coupled to a first gear; the first gear coupled to a second gear; the second gear removably coupled to a worm gear; and the worm gear coupled to a rotating plate. Rotation of the handle rotates the first gear which rotates the second gear which rotates the worm gear which rotates the rotating plate to cause the door to open or close. The first gear is swappable with the second gear to modify a gear ratio of the door operating system.
Claims11
1-6. (canceled)
A method for modifying a gear ratio in a door operating system, the door operating system comprising a rotating handle removably coupled to a first gear, the first gear coupled to a second gear, the second gear removably coupled to a worm gear, and the worm gear coupled to a rotating plate, the method comprising:
- uncoupling the first gear from the handle;
- uncoupling the second gear from the worm gear;
- coupling the first gear to the worm gear;
- and
- coupling the second gear to the handle.
A method for modifying a gear ratio in a door operating system, the door operating system comprising a rotating handle removably coupled to a first gear, the first gear coupled to a second gear, the second gear removably coupled to a worm gear, and the worm gear coupled to a rotating plate, the method comprising:
- uncoupling the first gear from the handle;
- uncoupling the second gear from the worm gear;
- coupling a third gear to the worm gear;
- and
- coupling a fourth gear to the handle;
- wherein the third gear and the fourth gear have a same center-to-center distance as the first gear and the second gear but have a different gear ratio than the first gear and the second gear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.